Bognor Chichester CTC Ride Notes- Club Website is at www.bognorchichesterctc.org.uk

Sunday, 27 October 2013

Sunday 27 October. West Dean Ride

The weather today ended up dry with some sun but very windy and blustery no doubt a taste of the coming big storm.

Harvey was the leader and he was joined at Chichester Cross by myself, Tony, Avryl and Keith.

We headed up out on West Street and up the Centurion Way with the usual number of dogs walkers with their dogs not on leads. They always seem a little surprised to encounter cyclists on a Cyclepath.

At Lavant we headed into the village and then across to Goodwood Airfield Cafe. We made it inside just ahead of a short shower, good planning Harvey!

Over a long elevenses with a lot of chat we decided to give a miss to West Dean because of the strength of the wind and worries about gusts blowing us into traffic, We decided instead to head for Chichester Cathedral Cloisters Cafe for lunch.

We retraced our outward route which had the advantage of returning on the traffic free Centurion Way. In the following picture the movement blur occurs because the camera was on a long shutter speed due to the low light under the trees. The camera and the cyclists ahead are travelling at the same speed while the ground is blurred.

We headed on to the Cloisters and a long lunch break thoroughly putting the world to rights.

Then it was a little more bike riding to make our ways home.

Mileage from and back to Chichester was just 12. My total mileage from Pagham was 25.

The ride today was very short just from Chichester to West Stoke Village Hall for the Club AGM.

The weather could have been worse. The heavy rain early morning had just cleared by the time I needed to leave. I was the leader and I was joined at Chichester Cross by David, Tony and Avryl. A lot more went direct to the hall.

We took a fairly direct route west from the center and then up the Centurion Way Cyclepath. Then it was an out of the way narrow lane to link up with the Lavant backroad. There must have been some very strong squally winds early morning as the lane was blocked by large branches at several points. Much easier to get round on a bike though.

At the Hall more members joined some by car and some by Bike including Richard, Freda and Jim, Arthur and Lynn, Dave and Jan, Jim and Colin. We were joined also by Lorraine Stone from CTC HQ who gave us an interesting update and dealt with many questions. One interesting item is that CTC will soon go through a rebrand with a change of name dropping Touring to be more inclusive and a new logo.

After the meeting we made our separate ways back. The weather on the way back was not as kind with a torrential squally downpour by the time I got to Chichester so I diverted to the Cathedral Cloisters Cafe for a break until it cleared.

We couldn't have asked for better weather this afternoon, brilliant sunshine light easterly winds and temperatures touching 19 degrees - all in stark contrast to the cold rain and wind of the previous couple of days.

Perhaps it was the fine weather that encouraged 10 riders at the start point - Alan, Steve, Carol, Galya, Debbie, Graham, David, Liz, Julain, and new rider Wendy.

The objective today was to get to Littlehampton without using any part of the A259 main road, and that was accomplished by taking back roads around Bognor to North Felpham, then Flansham and the cycletrack to Barnham. Then Mill Lane, Yapton, Horsemere Green and crossing over to Ferry Road and the Arun footbridge. Then a short run round Littlehampton's back streets to the Look Sea Centre. It was warm enough to sit outside overlooking the river.

We had plenty of time before returning and a group of us decided to climb to the top of the Look-Sea tower, as several riders had never been there. The views, as always, were brilliant.

For the return route we retraced our steps to the footbridge, then went via Climping School and Bread Lane down to the beach where we took the foreshore right across to Elmer.

Riding this route is always very variable as the shingle can sometimes impede progress. Whilst it has never been possible to ride the complete length Climping to Elmer without pushing the bike at some point, on this occasion I clocked only 0.20 of pushing (1/5 of a mile), all the rest was rideable. This is very possibly the best and smoothest ride ever taken on that route. We all manged the stones comfortably with no problems or incidents.

From Elmer it was a straightforward run back to central Bognor, via Sea Lane Middleton and then the foreshore path and prom all the way back, with people peeling off home along the way.

The round trip from Bognor Library was about 19 miles; I clocked just over 25 by the time I got home.

There was fairly good weather today, starting cloudy but sunny from 11.00 and temperatures of about 19C.

I was the leader and there was a pretty good turnout. I was joined by Sam, Alan, Avryl, Chris, Tony and Marilyn, Harvey, Jo, Andrew Kerry- Bedall and newcomer Andrew Willis so 11 out for the day.

I had checked the tides beforehand so knowing we could avoid wet feet we headed out on lanes towards Bosham Hoe and then the lane round the harbor with the usual picturesque views.

We settled in for a pleasant elevenses stop at the arcade cafe Bosham just as the sun came out. Some members were told off for taking a shortcut to the terrace via the fire escape door and repeatedly setting off alarms, oops.

We continued on lanes north from Bosham and Sam resumed telling me about the numerous steel work jobs he had done as we passed relevant properties. We continued via West Ashling and then Watery Lane to Funtington. After a short climb and descent we headed along the valley road to West Marden for lunch at The Victoria.

My route back resulted in a few grumbles as we headed up the steep hill out of the village, ideal for straight after lunch! The compensation was the long descent first to Forestside and the down the long hill through the woods past Stansted House. Then it was the usual route via Westbourne and Woodmancote. We stopped for tea at Fishbourne Roman Palace Cafe.

Mileage from and back to Chichester was 28. My mileage from Pagham was 40.

Last weekend I was away in London taking pictures during Open House weekend of properties open only the one weekend of the year. These included City Hall, Lloyds, The Foreign Office and Battersea Power Station. On the Sunday afternoon I went to see the final stage of the Tour of Britain with a 10 lap circuit from Whitehall to the Tower of London and back on the embankment to Westminster.

Below is a shot of City Hall on the South Bank neat Tower Bridge and it’s amazing spiral staircase.

Below is a shot of Wiggo coming round the corner past Parliament and into Whitehall.

Today there were two rides on the program, a long hilly ride to Milland and a short flat ride to Selsey.

Colin led the long ride and he was joined at Chichester Cross by Sam, Anne and newcomer Martin.

The weather started bright and sunny, then clouding over and heavy rain starting late afternoon. The group stopped for elevenses at Compton where Sam turned back. The rest continued to Milland for lunch. The rain did not start until they were nearly back to Chichester.

Harvey was unable to lead the ride to Selsey so I stepped in but nobody turned up, possibly put off by the poor weather forecast. I did a short ride round to the north of Chichester before heading home to make it a morning ride of 30 miles

My last 2 images to be processed were taken last month on a day trip to London.

First a shot of the futuristic Southwark Station on the Jubilee Line.

Next a shot of a spiral staircase in Somerset House looking up from the basement

The weather wasn't particularly encouraging today, dull and cloudy but the forecast had suggested no rain and indeed there wasn't any - although it kept threatening.However it was mild with a light wind and perhaps this was the reason why there were 12 of us at the start point - an excellent turn out.

Philippa led this ride and was joined by Alan, Steve, Carol, Graham, Debbie, Liz, Roy, Julian, David and newcomers Galya and Mike.

We took cycletracks past the College to the Station, then the canal basin where we followed the canal to Poyntz Bridge.

Then to North Mundham and lanes to South Mundham and Fisher where a blackberry picking stop was made, overseen by a group of inquisitive cows.

We then continued along off road lanes and tracks, a waymarked route now designated National Cycle Route No.88, until emerging at Rookery Lane Sidlesham. Then 2 minutes on the tarmac to the Crab and Lobster, our refreshment stop.

For the return route the group split into two, with one part heading back to Chichester via NCN88, North Mundham and Vinnetrow Lake to Bognor bridge, and the other group making a direct return to Bognor via Halseys Farm, Pagham Harbour Wall and Church Farm.Mindful of the last time we went this way when one of the riders took an unplanned dip in the harbour, we were a little more careful and got back wihout incident (helped by the fact it was daylight rather than late night when we last came this way).

The round trip mileage from Chichester was about 16. I went back with the Bognor group and clocked up a little over 21 by the time i got home.

The weather today was mixed with the morning being not too bad but a wet afternoon of which more anon.

Sam was the leader and he was joined at Chichester Cross by myself, Colin and Mark.

We took a fairly standard ride via Woodmancote to Rowlands Castle where we spotted John Maxim leaving the Cafe. Then it was on a back road out of the village and on to Horndean. I think Sam was headed for Hambledon for elevenses but plans were changed when dark shower clouds were spotted headed our way and we diverted to Horndean Garden Centre. This proved a wise decision as we watched a torrential downpour.

Then it was on lanes via Cathrington, Denmead and Worlds End. Eventually we tackled the inevitable climb up Portsdown Hill.

We came out by Nelsons Monument, the Portsmouth version and then a fast descent to Portchester and a picnic lunch by the Walls fronting on the Harbour. Colin discovered a puncture soon after arrival. Not being able to find the hole he took the logical? option of heading for the nearest water to find the bubbles, namely the sea.

With no other options not involving heavy traffic or the Motorway we headed back up the hill and then along Portsdown Hill with great views across the City and over to the Isle of Wight. As we rode trouble was clearly looming ahead of us.

We just got to Costas Havant for tea in time as another downpour started, well planned Sam. Colin decided to head back via Compton, possibly needing more hills. The rest of us headed straight back on the A259. More showers hit and after several stops to shelter including one bus shelter we concluded we were just catching up with it. I checked the weather radar on my return and it turned out it was a continuous line of merged showers blocking our path.

We pushed on back to Chichester where it promptly stopped raining. I continued home to Pagham in the dry apart from a short shower at Bersted with a bus shelter stop followed by the welcome home of a double rainbow.

Mileage from and back to Chichester was 45. My mileage for the day was 59.

The following shot was taken last Monday evening. It is taken from the spit of land across part of the Pagham Harbour entrance and is only a mile from home. The image was a 58 second long exposure taken with a 10 stop filter. This reduces the amount of light coming through the lens nearly a thousand times to gain the smooth sea and cloud movement.

Last Thursday, the last of the hot days I had an early bike ride aiming to catch the morning mist. This was taken at 7.30 am near the top of the South Downs Way where it crosses the A29 at the top of Bury Hill. A 70mm lens compresses the layers of the landscape.

The ride on Sunday was starting from Pulborough Station for the DA Event the Off Road Arun Crossings Ride, going to The Haven near Billingshurst for Lunch.

For the first time the Event coincided with engineering works between Horsham and Barnham so some people had to change their plans.

The first part of the ride was different from usual and resulted in one rearrangement as the group came to a crossing which was closed due to the Engineering works.

The weather was hazy sun most of the day with more cloud in the afternoon but dry and warm.

As I no longer do off-road of any distance I rode direct to the lunch stop. Crossing Tangmere I stopped to let hordes of cyclists pass on the Bognor Regis CC Club Ride.

Then it was the climb up to Pillygreen. I stopped to look at the Sculptures outside the main Goodwood Sculpture Park. My interpretation of this one is a Dinosaur tooth!

Then it was on to Duncton and a fast descent, Petworth, Wisborough Green and the long lane up to The Haven. On the lane I came across the Event riders for a short way before they turned off on another track.

I had sandwiches, just as well, as there was a one hour wait for food.

Participants from our Section in the event were Colin, Sam and Chris.

There were 10 taking part plus myself and Barbara from Horsham coming direct.

As Bob was obviously desperate for attention in the last shot below is another shot.

There were a lot of bikes there apart from our own and it turned out they were from Central London CTC.

After lunch Colin led the group on more tracks to return to Pulborough. I took a direct route home via Pulborough, Amberley and Houghton Hill. A note for long standing members, when I was cycling back along the sea front I came across Zilla Howard on her bike. She has been held back from returning to Club Rides by 2 children aged 13 and 9.

My return mileage for the day to and from Pagham was 68.

Below are my latest HDR pictures. First there is one taken on the Underground in London.

The weather today started with drizzle which cleared soon after 10.00. There was sun in the afternoon with temperatures up to 23C. Wind was NW in the morning and NE in the afternoon, note that, a headwind on the way out and a headwind on the way back!!

There were 2 rides today meeting up at Southsea. Harvey led the short flat ride via Hayling accompanied by newcomer David Sinclair. I led the longer hillier ride and I was joined by Colin and Gill.

We took a fairly standard route out via Westbourne, Rowlands Castle and Chalton to stop for elevenses at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park Cafe. Then it was on via Clanfield where the route went a little astray. I thought the turnoff I wanted was earlier than it was. We stopped by a turn to Hinton Amptner and Colin said it would get us to the route I wanted and the climb wasn’t too bad, half a mile of vertical climb later we stopped at the top to recover.

This was now all new roads to me which was good. A short way further on we pulled in to let about 20 horses and traps pass, sportive for horses maybe?

Then it was on to a lane new even to Colin via Denmead Mill and then down to Denmead. Then it was another new lane down to Southwick. Colin spotted a new Cafe in the Post Office at Southwick filed for future reference. Then it was the long but relatively gentle climb on the B Road to Portsdown Hill. A sharp fast downhill followed to Cosham.

We then followed the Cycleroute down the western side of the Portsmouth peninsular past the continental ferry Port. The Bank Holiday crowds were apparent as we passed the Dockyard where a great multitude filled the pavements waiting to enter. Another multitude filled Southsea Common for the International Kite festival which seemed bigger than ever. We easily found Harvey and David at the meeting point of the War Memorial where we had our picnics.

After lunch the groups merged and we headed east along the front. I led the group up paths and backstreets to get to the Eastern Road Cycle path. I took a route to the Langston Harbour footpath which goes alongside the water and avoids convoluted backstreets.

Further up we joined the cycle path following the eastern edge of the Portsmouth peninsular with good views over the harbour and then across to Havant via a footbridge over the A27.

Then it was through Havant and an ice cream stop at Flintstones Cafe, Emsworth Harbour.

As time was getting on we headed straight back to Chichester on the A259. As we neared the foot crossing of the Railway where the new bridge is some racing cyclists were coming the other way. When we reached the crossing, one of the other cyclists came back asking if we had a seen a Garmin Edge. I spotted it lying directly on one of the rails. A Train had just come through but on the other line, close one!!. It didn’t seem damaged by falling, the screen was still on.

Mileage from and back to Chichester was 58 for the long ride. My mileage from Pagham was 69.

On my way back home I took the lane via South Mundam and then the track across the fields to Summer Lane and Pagham. In a field beside the track some Sunflowers were growing. On one of them a bee was having a serious guzzle ignoring me however close I got the lens. I got this shot with my basic compact camera set to macro and slow synchro flash.

My latest HDR was taken Monday of last week on a day trip to London of the Atrium Roof of the British Museum using a fisheye lens.

A perfect evening for cycling, lovely sunshine, a light breeze, and temperatures in the early teens.

We set out down the usual back routes to Hoe Lane at Flansham, where we joined the cycle track up to Barnham.

Arriving at Barnham in the glare of the setting sun, we took the lane to Walberton and a large semi-circle through Walberton Village, North End, then Lake Lane where we took the foot crossing over the railway inot Maypole Lane.The sun was just about setting as we arrived at the pub.

Definite evidence of the night’s drawing in was provided by the fact that we left for home before 9.30pm in the pitch black, heading down Maypole Lane then North End Road before the street lighting appeared in Yapton.Then it was the usual route via Bilsham Corner, Comet Corner, then Middleton, Felpham, and back to Bognor.

Arthur was leading the Ride today starting from a Cafe in Eling near Totton. I took a train to Southampton Central. Then it was a designated Cycle Route avoiding the main road about 4.5 miles to Eling. Everybody else arrived by car. There were 11 out in all including Arthur and Lynn, Jan, Di and Brian, Graham and a number of other Moulton Club members.

The weather stayed dry despite numerous showers around. Back home there was apparently an hour long downpour in the morning so we did well to stay dry.

Arthur delegated the lead to Brian who knows the area well. After elevenses at the Eling Creek Heritage Centre Cafe we headed off on the lane across the Creek.

We headed SW towards Beaulieu and as we did so came across a lot of cyclists heading the other way in the New Forest Rattler Sportive with 800 participants. Not a good area to be a car driver!!

We stopped for lunch at the Old Bakehouse Cafe, Beaulieu.

Then it was on to Bucklers Hard with some beautiful leafy lane travelling not quite as fast as the picture makes it appear.

The Bucklers Hard Tea Rooms was our tea stop though rather than tea it was ice creams all round.

We headed back on a similar route with threatening black clouds overhead but the rain held off. Tea was back at the Cafe at Eling.

Mileage for the ride was 22. My mileage including riding to and from stations at each end was 43.

On Monday night of last week I spent 2 hours at Pagham Harbour wall taking pictures and watching the Perseid Meteors. I saw about 30 in all. I sent one picture to the BBC which appeared on the BBC South Today programme just before the weather. The picture was taken with a fisheye lens at 00.30 Tuesday morning. The light on the horizon is light pollution.

Arthur was the leader today and we met at Chichester Cross. The morning involved some showery rain which got going as I arrived in Chichester. Despite this Arthur was joined at The Cross by myself, Graham, Roger, Gill, David and Avryl. Di and Brian joined us at Havant, Roger left us just before lunch and Lynn joined us at tea so altogether there were 10 out during the day.

As the Rain set in at the Cross Arthur suggested we night need to adjust the timing so I suggested we cut short the planned ride to Lee on Solent at Hayling Island. This was very much welcomed by Arthur and the majority of the Riders.

A little way up the road a few took off coats as the rain stopped. I warned at the time it was a bad idea.

After a few more miles the rain duly started again and coats went back on. We continued via Southbourne to stop for elevenses at the Greenhouse Cafe, Emsworth where it managed to drizzle while the sun shone and we sheltered under the sunshade.

The rain stayed away the rest of the day with increasing sun. We took the Hayling Billy trail to the Bridge and then it was the quiet pretty lanes via Northney.

Soon after we crossed the main road to another lane Gill stopped to mend a puncture a process which was helped (or possibly hindered) by advice from all round. We continued on lanes via West Town and then down to Hayling town and a sunny lunch at the Coastguards Cafe.

With very clear skies after the rain there were great views across to the Isle of Wight. We returned via Nortney and the bridge and then walked the pretty waterfront path.

We all stopped further on to admire a tree filled with Egrets and Herons.

We then continued to stop at Emsworth for tea but this time at the Harbour Café and a near universal choice of an ice cream break.

We returned at a fast pace with a tail wind on the main road. Mileage from and back to Chichester was 35. My mileage from Pagham was 46.

I recently had my first Magazine sale of one of my Underground Pictures to O2 Magazine for their August issue. This is available free from any O2 mobile phone shop during August and my picture is a full page. See below.

There were 6 of us at the start point - Carol & Steve, Tony, John, Julian & Graham.It was a lovely sunny evening, temperature about 20 degrees, with a South westerly breeze.

Our route took us through Felpham onto the prom, where we cycled the entire length to West Park at Aldwick - the first club ride along the prom since cycling was made permissive on the extended stretch to Aldwick.

From there it was Barrack Lane &Stoney Stile Lane to Nyetimber, where we took Summer Lane and the field tracks across to South Runcton.

Crossing the Bridge over Pagham Rife.

Track over fields at Pagham

Throughout this stretch we were plagued with a visitation in the form of clouds of midges encouraged by the recent weather - I counted over 6 trillion before we reached Runcton.

Then it was lanes and NCN88 all the way to Sidlesham, with a brief inspection along the way, of the site of Chalder station on the closed Selsey Tramway.

Our destination was the Anchor Inn, Sidlesham.

It was getting quite dark when we left the pub at about 21.20, and John & Tony opted to take the road route home via Hunston.

The rest of us decided to take the shorter route around the edge of Pagham Harbour.

We made it in the half light to the raised footpath around the harbour’s edge, and from there Julian, with his brighter front light, led the pack along the narrow track.We had not gone more than 200 yards when I looked ahead and saw Julian’s rear light disappearing down the embankment. However this had not become detached, in fact Julian and his bike had both headed off the footpath and down the embankment, their progress halted only by the soft sticky mud in the harbour.

Bikes were abandoned as we rushed to retrieve Julian, fortunately this was achieved quite quickly and even more fortunately neither Julian nor his bike had suffered lasting damage, although Julian’s leg acquired what must be the world’s largest bruise, and his jacket significantly heavier with copious amounts of mud.

We continued round the harbour a little more carefully and reached tarmac without further incident, although that was not the end of our troubles as Steve pulled up with a large puncture on the way back through Bognor. Steve is now claiming a club record for the number of consecutive punctures on consecutive rides.

After a somewhat later return than planned, my round trip mileage was 20.4

The ride today was led by Sam and he was joined at Chichester Cross by Chris, Jeff and myself. Colin and Anne joined us later at lunch so 6 out during the day.

The weather was warm and generally sunny with a stiff SW tailwind for the morning..

We headed out via Westhampnett and then up to the Downs on the quiet lane to Pillygreen Lodge. We stopped here for a brief break/Sam ciggy stop.

Then it was down to East Dean and the lane at the foot of the Downs to the A285 and along to Duncton Hill. Sam recorded 50mph on the descent and I was not far behind at 46.

Then it was a sharp right turn at the bottom onto beautiful quiet lanes.

We made our way on more lanes to Petworth and an elevenses stop where we met up with the Arun Adur riders, just Dave and Richard.

We then followed Dave via Balls Cross and Kirdford where we stopped for a relaxing break watching Chris mend a puncture.

Then it was on to Wisborough Green and a picnic on the Green. Nobody turned up from Horsham.

I suggested that after lunch we went on about 8 miles further north to the southernmost part of the Prudential Ride London-Surrey Professional Road Race which was due to arrive about 3.00. Dave went part way and Richard, Anne, Colin and Anne came all the way. We stopped at Wallis Wood on a sharp bend. On this part of the course the riders did 3 loops round Leith Hill.

The well known riders were limited to David Millar, Peter Sagan and for Sky Ben Swift.

On the second loop I moved to the inside of the corner and got the following picture of the Sky Team. This is a good illustration of the improvements possible with editing. In the original the riders are a bit distant and too much into the light. The edited picture following a crop and HDR editing is much improved.

I was the leader today and I was joined at Walberton Pond by Sam, Colin and Jeff. Gill also met us there to say hello before going on her own short local ride.

The weather was dry and warm, sunny with scattered clouds and dry apart from one short shower in the afternoon. We enjoyed a stiff SW tail wind.

We headed north from Walberton to join the A29 for a short while before turning off on the quiet lane to Madehurst.

Then it was down Houghton Hill and the usual route via Amberley and Rackhamto stop for a welcome 11s break at Wiggonholt.

We headed on via Nutbourne and West Chiltington to join the B2139 heading north for a while. Then it was on to lanes via Broomer’s Corner and up to Dragon’s Green. There was a large Marquee in the back garden as the Landlord and Landlady had got married yesterday. Not a lot of food was on but Sam managed to get a Soup while the rest of us went up the road to eat our sandwiches. We returned to join Sam for a drink.

For the return ride it was lanes via Coolham and then back to Broomer’s Corner. Then it was a long beautiful lane south to Ashington and a lane across to Walminghurst Church where we stopped for a brief break and a look round the Church.

Next it was lanes on the edge of Storrington and after going through Storrington taking the route through Parham Park. Then it was back to Amberley and a stop for tea at the Village Tea Rooms. Sam had a cream tea and couldn’t manage all his cream so I had cream on my flapjack (yes I know, weird!)

As we were nearly finished a light shower started. Putting on the waterproofs did the trick as the rain stopped by the time we got to Houghton Hill. The sun came out at the top of the hill and we headed back via the Madehurst lanes.

Mileage from and back to Walberton was about 53. My mileage for the day was 65.

My latest HDR picture is another one of Chris Froome on the Mont St Michel Time Trial. HDR enhanced plus blur added to the background with Photoshop.

John was unable to lead this ride so i was deputized. This is quite a long evening ride, and necessarily includes a couple of hills so it was good to see 6 at the start point - Julian, Graham, Jo, Tony, David, and guest rider Dot.

I planned a circular route so we set off via Flansham and the Barnham cycle track to Eastergate, then via the unsurfaced Northfields Lane to Level Mare Lane, then across the A27 to tackle the gentler of the hills past the Aldingbourne Country Centre and Mount Noddy. Eartham was reached after about 65 mins cycling and the hill made sure we had worked up a thirst.

Edwin joined us later at the pub, having been time-trialling, and he rode back with us to Bognor.

The return half of the circuit involved climbing the short but challenging north side of Eartham Hill, then it was over a mile of freewheeling back to the A27. Some of us managed over 30mph.

Then, apart from a little diversion on quieter backroads at Fontwell and Eastergate it was back down the A29 all the way to Bognor. The A29 is normally quiet at this time of night, but was much quieter than normal tonight owing to the fact it was closed at Eastergate roundabout for overnight re-surfacing. With bikes we circumvented this closure, not quite sure what the diversionary route for cars was however.

The round trip mileage from and back to the Arun Leisure Centre was 18.0 miles, I had clocked up 21 by the time I got home.

Graham

Note from the Peloton

Circumventing the closure involved weaving between giant road removal and tarmac laying machines near Eastergate runabout, plus crossing stretches of torn up road and escaping to pavements and then a narrow path from the Wilkes Head at times between rows of nettles!! Julian mentioned being tested to the limits tonight!!

Today was very hot and sunny all day. The long ride was to a café near Rogate and was led by Colin and he was joined by Mark Jones, Anne and Chris.

The short ride was led by Harvey and he was joined by Sam and David Glue.

I went on neither ride instead riding with my SLR to take pictures of an MTB race near Queen Elizabeth Country Park. The location was part way up the climb to Buriton from the south on the east of the road in some woods. This worked out quite well as I spent the middle of the day in cooler woodland.

Some of the pictures taken are below. The first two are good illustrations of why I gave up mountain biking!

It was a nice evening weather wise and I was joined by Alan, Steve, Jo and newcomer Michelle, not a large turnout but I think some regulars were away on holiday.

leaving Felpham Leisure Center we made our way down to the promenade (which is now legal to cycle along) heading for Barrack Lane and then through the private estates at Aldwick, we came out at the Pagham Football Club then across the fields at Summer Lane and into South Mundham and then North Mundham visiting the Walnut Tree for a well deserved drink, mine was a pint of Guinness.

After refreshments we all took the quickest way back to the Leisure Center.

Philippa led this ride from Chichester which was supposed to run to Stansted House Garden Centre. However due to the weather - sunny and hot, nudging 26 degrees -she was not feeling too good so we decided to divert the ride avoiding the steeper of the hills, and go to Westbourne instead.

There were 10 at the start point - Philippa, Graham, Debbie, Carol, Steve, Alan, Julian, and new riders Michelle, Sean and Terry.

We took an undulating route via Clay Lane, Hambrook & Woodmancote to arrive at Westbourne Square where we found the tea rooms had closed at 2pm. So it was on via the cyclepath to Emsworth Square where we found our 2nd choice tea rooms had also just closed. Eventually we found sustenance still available at the Flint Barn Tea rooms at Emsworth Harbour, not surprisingly doing a roaring trade.

Philippa put me in charge of the return route which required a recall of the memory banks as I had not ridden this way for some time.

I took an old favourite bridleway via Lumley back to Westbourne,then along the very quiet Cemetery Lane to Woodmancote, a route which was apparently new to most people. From there it was down Newells Lane to Bosham and the cycletrack back to Fishbourne & Chichester.

The round trip from Chichester was about 20 miles; I clocked in excess of 33 by the time I got home.

The weather was quite good for the year’s 100 mile ride. It started misty and cloudy but cleared to a good sunny day, not too hot and a brisk SW wind.

The start was 7.00am and Arthur was joined at Chichester Cross by Lynn, Peter, Avryl, myself, Brian, Diane, Graham, Martin and Tim so 10 out for the day.

First for what I would call the northern loop we headed east via Tangmere, Waterbeach, Westerton, Westhampnett and back to Chichester to start the Western loop. At the end of West Street and the Pedestrian rail crossing we saw the new bridge was nearly finished though not yet open.

Then it was on to the loop of lanes round Bosham Harbour and then another loop down to Chidham. Then lanes via Hambrook and Southbourne before a welcome breakfast stop at the Boaters Bar, Prinsted.

After breakfast we hit the road again.

Onwards viaEmsworth and then Westbourne, Southbourne and Hambrook. Another loop via Chidham before returning to Bosham for a brief stop and then heading out again.

It was then a shorter loop from Bosham without going round the Harbour. Then it was Fishbourne and Apuldram and the Salterns Way across fields.

Then on round to the Yacht Basin and an encounter with a Swan by the canal which hissed at the passing cyclists as she protected her chicks.

Then it was Birdham Pool and Birdham before heading down the main West Wittering road before turning off on a backroad across to East Wittering and a welcome lunch break at the Boulevard Café, East Wittering. 50 miles down 50 to go!

There was a pleasant lunch stop on the patio area.

After Lunch Lynn and Diane kept up with the world on their smartphones, too engrossed to notice their pictures being taken, sorry!

Next it was lanes via Earnley and on to Hunston and North Mundham and a short break outside North Mundam Church.

I had decided before starting that as I have ridden 100 miles before many times that I would have a shorter day. Now being on the lanes home this proved a convenient point to turn off as we went past South Mundham.

I do not know the rest of the route but the plan was to head to the Look and Sea Centre, Littlehampton for tea and then back to Chichester to complete the 100 miles.